


The Aftermath

by bernie_v2k



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Bromance, Buddy Cop fic, Flashpoint Paradox, Post-Flash Season 2, Post-LoT Season 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 00:19:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7197485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bernie_v2k/pseuds/bernie_v2k
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry finds himself adjusting to the ramifications of his decision to go back in time to save his mother. But he is not alone on this journey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Barry woke up with that sensation of expecting a hangover after a night of heavy drinking and managing to dodge that bullet. He lazily glanced over at his alarm clock and saw he was clearly going to be late for work. Well, better to be late five minutes than a half hour. He jumped out of bed ready to speed through washing up and getting dressed but instead he stumbled out of bed with tangled feet.

Uh oh.

Barry walked to work. No, he ran. Wait, more accurately he chased down city transit and scrambled to find change.

When he got to the precinct, very little looked different. But something was off, aside from the fact he no longer had his speed. What happened last night? No, it wasn’t last night. What happened 16 years ago?

Barry scanned the office and saw Joe. A calm came over him from just seeing his dad’s face. Suddenly everything felt like it was going to alright.

“Joe!” he called out running over to the detective. “I’m so glad you’re still here!”

“Umm, can I help you, Mr. Allen?” Joe was, in so few words, polite and professional. Barry just stood there, mouth agape and wordless. Well, sputters of sounds trying to find words.

“West! Allen!” a familiar voice called out and broke that awkward moment. “I’m still waiting for an update on the blood samples from the Lautner case!” Barry turned and instantly recognized those steel blue eyes and hardened features. Tall and slender, he was wearing a dark grey suit and standing in the doorway of Captain Singh’s office.

“What the hell are you doing here, Snart?” Barry took several heated steps toward the master thief until Joe braced an arm over his chest to stop him, sporting a bewildered look on his face that said ‘Are you crazy?’

Snart’s face was equally shocked, but definitely more pissed off. “Come again, Allen?” More sputtering sounds from Barry’s mouth. “Office. Now!”

Barry shot one quick glance at Joe, not getting the same fatherly support he normally would. “Good luck, kid” was all he offered. Barry dragged his feet toward Snart, avoiding his eyes which shot daggers at him. As he walked into the office, Barry took a moment to read the name on the door:

**Captain L. Snart  
C.C.P.D.**

Uh oh.

“Allen,” Snart started with a low menacing voice, “mind telling me what the hell that was all about?” There was something far more frightening about this Leonard than the one that wielded a cold gun. He always had authority and presence but this time, maybe it’s because Barry was no longer a threat to him.

“Sorry, uh, sir.” Still unable to look the man in the eye, Barry stared straight ahead. His eyes landed on the certificates and commendations that hung on the wall. There were also framed newspaper clippings praising the C.C.P.D. and their captain. There was a photo from what looked like Lisa Snart’s graduation and another from a wedding ceremony between Leonard and a tall black man with glasses.

“Did you hear me, Allen?” Okay, Barry. Stop pissing this guy off.

“Sorry, sir! It won’t happen again!” he said in a very military fashion.

“This isn’t like you, Allen. You’re one of the best. But I tolerate that sort of outburst from nobody. Do I make myself clear?”

It’s at this moment that Barry’s cell phone went off. Awkwardly, Barry dug the phone out of his pocket as Snart looked on, fuming. Barry’s heart stopped when he read the caller I.D.

“It’s… it’s my mom.” There was a lump in his throat and the ability to breathe was a trying task. He remembered what he did. He remembered why everything was the way it was. He’d change his path.

“You answer that phone, it will be to tell your mother that her son was fired,” Snart said slowly. Barry did not answer the phone.

~~~~

Barry found his lab which looked, more or less, exactly how it always does no matter which timeline or Earth he was on. He pulled out his phone again and stared at the call back button for what felt like an eternity.

_[Ring ring ring]_

“Allen residence?” Barry sighed at the sound of her voice, relishing in the comfort that he didn’t get from Detective Joe West.

“Mom?”

“Oh hey, sweetie! I tried calling earlier but I guess you were busy…” She went on about asking him to come over on the weekend to move some furniture into storage, and about trying some jam she made. She sounded off on what Grandma Garrick was up to, and his cousin Don’s upcoming wedding. She also told him about these reports she read about shampoos and real estate frauds and how you can’t trust anyone in the city. Basic mom stuff that he’s never had a chance to complain about before and now he likely never will. It was music to his ears.

He stifled tears when he said goodbye promising to call her before he came over on the weekend. She ended the call by asking him what he wanted for dinner. He said, “Surprise me.”

Barry tried to get some work done. The Lautner case was ringing a bell so he shuffled through his files and found the results and promptly sent them over to Joe and Snart. Things felt normal even though he knew they weren’t. He was happy, wasn’t he? He just had the most mundane conversation with his mother and he loved it.

Still, he decided to perform a blood test on himself to see if there was remotely any traces of dark matter in his system. There wasn’t. He had no powers. He was not, nor was he ever, the Flash.

He pawed at his phone and quickly dialed a number.

_[Ring ring ring]_

_Your call has been forwarded to an automated service. Thank you for calling the office of Mayor Queen. Your concerns are important. Please stay on the line. You are the fifth caller in the queue._

The caller countdown reached to second caller and Barry hung up. What was he thinking? Oliver wouldn’t know who he was.

~~~~

The work day ended and Barry finally left his lab. He descended down the grand staircase but stopped when he saw her. Iris West was there visiting her father and flashing the most brilliant smile. Barry struggled to separate memories of the then and the _actual_ then. He knew the sacrifices he was making and Iris was one of them. He knew it would haunt him forever; that nagging question: Was it worth it?

He milled about at the top of the stairs, waiting for Iris and Joe to finally leave. Once they did, he continued his exit and stopped short when he realized he was being watched the whole time.

“Barry, you have a minute?” Captain Snart asked calmly from his office door. Barry nodded and walked over to him.

“Have a seat, Barry” Captain Snart motioned toward a chair opposite his desk. Barry sighed and sat down, resolved to just go with whatever this new life threw at him.

“What’s up?” Barry said, quickly correcting himself. “I mean, what can I do for you, captain?”

“Oh, I just noticed you watching Joe and his daughter.”

Barry swallowed hard and then cleared his throat. “Oh, that’s just because umm, Iris and I used to go to school together. We haven’t talked in awhile so I was just, you know, avoiding any awkward interactions, as uhh you know, I can be pretty awkward, which you can umm attest to.” Barry trailed off at the end, simultaneously wiping his sweaty palms on his pants.

The captain smirked at him. “Have I ever told you how I came to be in this position, Mr. Allen?” Barry shrugged his shoulders. There’s a good chance he actually did but he hoped his ignorance can just be mistaken for a foggy memory. Captain Snart continued. “I didn’t have the best childhood. Having a crooked cop for a father was certainly going to hinder my career on the force. But, I did it. Overcame the odds, not letting my childhood interfere with my ambitions.

“If I could pinpoint what led me on this path, it might have been about 16 years ago. I was at a bank that was being held up and there was this man pointing a gun at a woman and her boy and he was getting mighty twitchy. When he heard a siren in the distance, he threatened to start killing hostages so he aimed at the mother and her son. Well, I just couldn’t stand for that.” Captain Snart undid the top two buttons of his dress shirt loosening his tie and showed Barry the scar from his bullet wound just above his left breast. “I enrolled at the academy, worked my ass off, not ashamed to say I might have kissed some ass along the way, and here I am.” He tilted his head and paused, waiting for a reaction from Barry. If Barry were to be honest, he’d say he was actually proud of the conniving thief for finding this life instead of the other one that he was more familiar with. He simply smiled back. “You don’t remember this?” Snart continued to prod until the pieces clicked together.

“I was the little boy,” Barry said astonished. Snart gave him an appreciative nod. The odd thing Barry started to realize was that yes, he did have a vague memory of this happening. It overlapped with other memories, ones where his mother was simply not there, or where Leonard freaking Snart didn’t take a bullet for him. This new world created by his actions was bleeding in.

“And yet,” Snart added, “Stop me if you’ve heard this one.” He got up and rounded the desk, leaning up on it and uncomfortably invading Barry’s personal space. Barry sat up straighter. “A Blackhawk Squad Protection Group truck is transporting the Kahndaq Dynasty diamond when it is attacked by four men. A man in red pajamas speeds onto the scene, ruining months of planning.” These pieces didn’t just click together; they downright slammed into each other.

“How do you…?”

“I thought it was me," Snart sort of laughed to himself before squaring up and looking down at Barry who suddenly felt very small. "All this time, I thought I was responsible for the anomaly in the timeline. You don’t destroy the Oculus Wellspring and hope everything will remain the same. So tell me, _Flash_. What. Did. You. Do?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry learns about how Leonard got here and has a revelation that could fix everything.

“No. Shut it down,” Time Master Druce cried out as Snart just continued to glare at him and his Spaceball cronies. “SHUT IT DOWN!”

“There are no strings on me,” he sneered back. Leonard could feel the heat coming off the Oculus. A mist of blue energy began to wrap itself around him. It’s not too late to release the fail safe, he thought to himself. Hey, maybe he could even join Druce’s side and be on a winning team for once. But then he remembered Sara’s kiss; desperate, sad, yet a little proud. Yeah, it was too late and he clearly was on the winning team.

The blue energy turned into white light as it blasted in front of him knocking him off the platform and into the eternal well of the timestream. As he fell, he could see the explosion engulf everything above. He did it.

He then felt his skin tingle and burn and he watched as his hands and limbs began to dissolve and swirl away in a vortex of particles. So this is what it’s like to be a hero, he thought; kind of anticlimactic. He smiled anyway and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, however, he was suddenly in a bank, dressed in black and wearing a ski mask while holding a handgun and pointing it at a couple of scared bank tellers. He could hear the wailing of sirens in the distance and the panicked voice of his partner, Christ, what was his name again? Marlon?

“Who the hell tripped the alarm?! I swear I’ll kill you all!” Marlon threatened, pointing the gun at a woman and her son.

“Woah woah, what the hell are you doing?” Leonard put a hand on the guy’s arm without even thinking. “We have a code. It’s the difference between serving five years and life. We have 56 seconds before the cops get here so let’s grab what we’ve got and go. Now!”

Marlon was shaking. He’s not a killer but he was a dumb guy and that made Leonard nervous. Suddenly there was a noise from the counter and Leonard knew how something as innocent as people shuffling in fear could set off anyone’s itchy trigger finger. So he moved in front of the mother and child before the sound of a gunshot rang out.

Leonard fell to the floor right beside the woman who let out a scream for him. He felt his blood start to ooze out of the open wound in his chest. It was warm and cold at the same time. Marlon’s eyes looked down at him wide and frantic. He ran to the teller grabbing the bag of cash and ran out the back where their getaway car awaited. Leonard stayed and bled.

“Hang in there,” the woman said, cradling his head in her lap. She took off his mask and he didn’t fight her. She placed it over his wound and pressed down on it. He sucked in a sharp breath of air. “Stay with me. You have a name?”

“Leonard,” he muttered while looking at her son who was pale as a ghost. For some reason, Leonard tried his best to smile at him, hoping it would relax and reassure the kid.

“Leonard… that’s a nice name,” she said, “the type of name a girl could take home to meet her folks.” His attention turn back to the woman.

“You asking me out?” He just couldn’t resist flirting with the woman who was trying to save his life. He did get her to laugh despite the gruesome situation they found themselves in.

“Sorry, I’m married,” she told him. “Besides, you must be in your twenties.” She then lightly brushed her fingers on his forehead, wiping away the perspiration that was building up.

“Nah, I’m forty---” Wait, _was_ he forty-four years old? His brows furrowed as he tried to remember his own age. 

“Wow, you’ll have to share your secrets with me,” the woman told him with a chuckle. His concentration broke as he heard the police and paramedics rush in and the cries of relief from the other hostages. The woman then leaned in and whispered to him, “We’ll tell the police how brave you were and what you did for us. You’re our hero.”

~~~~

“So tell me,  _ Flash.  _ What. Did. You. Do?”

Barry stared down the former thief, ignoring the clicking in his jaw. He took a deep breath and just resigned to the truth. “I got sick of losing. I got sick of being selfless. So I ran really fast and traveled back in time to save my mother. And then I ran back and woke up this morning to… this.”

Leonard figured that much but was surprised to hear Barry admit to being selfish. He was both proud and disappointed.

“I didn’t know you could do that. I guess that explains why your memory is still catching up on the last 16 years. Whereas I actually had to relive them.” Leonard leaned back and crossed his arms, relaxing a little more. “Gotta say, my 30s were better the second time around.”

“So how did you con your way into this?” Barry asked gesturing around the office, intending to sound more innocent and interested than condescending and self-righteous.

“I didn’t,” Leonard answered, completely ignoring Barry’s tone. Truthfully, Leonard was currently riding the high of being self-righteous over the Flash at the moment. “All of this police captain stuff was legitimately earned.”

“And the husband? Who is he?”

“Earned him too. His name was Curtis. He’s was a tech engineer who worked at Mercury Labs.” The use of past tenses did not go unnoticed by Barry but he didn’t press on. Leonard took a deep breath and continued. “Might as well fill you in instead of waiting for those memories to reach you.

“About a year and a half ago, there was a particle accelerator explosion at Mercury Labs. Unlike the S.T.A.R. Labs one that only you and I remember, this one was contained within the Mercury Labs facility. Half the staff was killed, including Curtis, and the other half…”

“Metahumans,” Barry finished. Snart pointed a finger at him as if to say, ‘Bingo’ and then he cast his eyes downward. “I’m sorry, Leonard.” Snart simply shrugged his shoulders, refusing to share any more feelings with the former Scarlet Speedster. Of course, Barry’s not exactly wired like that.

“I never knew you were into…”

“What? Men? Science nerds?” Leonard looked Barry up and down with a teasing smirk. “Well, I am. I also like people who can hold their own in a fight, can drink me under the table, and look great in white leather - not a lot of people can pull that off. See you tomorrow, Barry. Try not to destroy the world.”

“You never told me how you---”

“Oh my, God. You’re still here!” Leonard exclaimed, half joking but 100% exhausted. He sighed and smiled at Barry. “You need a ride home, Allen? I’ll tell you everything.”

~~~~

Leonard Snart took the long way to Barry’s apartment and told him everything. He told him about Rip Hunter and the Waverider and their battle against Vandal Savage and the Time Masters. He went into detail about everybody on the team including Ray Palmer, Professor Stein and Jax, Kendra, Heatwave, and Laurel Lance’s sister. He told him about the timestream and the Oculus and the Vanishing Point. He told him about his death. And he told this outrageous tale with a calm patience and minimal sass.

It was unsettling.

Barry laid awake in bed going over Snart’s story. He found that he was muttering to himself as his mind raced and he tried to piece everything together, as though it was a puzzle to solve. Leonard was in the eye of the Oculus when he was pulled back 16 years, retaining his memory. But what about the others?

Barry got up and rushed to his computer. He did a search for “Ray Palmer” -- nothing, at least not the one he was looking for. He then tried “Palmer Technologies” -- nothing. “Martin Stein,” “Sara Lance,” “Jefferson Jackson,” “Mick Rory,” “Kendra Saunders” -- all nothing, not even a Facebook account. He even used his access to criminal records -- more nothing. If his reset button went back 16 years then their counterparts should technically still exist living different lives in some form but it was as though they were completely wiped out of existence.

Unless…

Snart said the Vanishing Point was outside of the timestream. If this team and their time machine was at the Vanishing Point then, theoretically, they were still there unaffected by all this change. In short, there was hope to turn things back to the way they were!

Barry leaned back in his chair relishing in his own ‘Eureka’ moment before picking up the phone not caring what time it was to tell Snart his theory. It won’t be easy but they’d just have to find a way to send a message to the Waverider and stop himself from saving his mom.

And that’s when Barry put down the phone and reconsidered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the heavy exposition in this chapter. It did feel necessary in order to move forward. Welcome to a time travel story!  
> The next chapter will definitely have more interactions with other characters. Stay tuned!
> 
> Also, I fell in love with the idea of a bleeding 28-year old Leonard Snart flirting with a 41-year old Nora Allen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry plays catch-up and realizes a cause and effect of his actions.

Barry was very diligent in getting into work early this morning, which actually made him right on time. When he arrived at the precinct, he saw Captain Snart in the briefing room with all the detectives. He was admiring how focused Snart was. This really was his life now, wasn’t it?

When the briefing was dismissed, Barry watched as everyone filed out of the room and Snart stayed behind talking to Joe and Eddie Thawne. A very much alive Eddie Thawne! The three of them looked serious for a moment but then all burst into laughter after Joe said something, ending with Snart patting Eddie on the shoulder playfully as the three men left the briefing room, amidst the chuckles of an inside joke.

He thought about his theory from last night. Even if it was possible to contact that time machine, why would he want to? His mom was alive, Eddie was alive, Joe and Iris were happy and healthy, and Snart was a stand-up citizen. He’ll be the first to admit that he didn’t give himself a lot of time to weigh the pros and cons when he sped back to the night of his mother’s murder and saved her. He was just fed up with the universe punishing him, and for what? For being a superhero? For having the weight of the world on his shoulders? For just a moment, wanting to breathe?

Leonard made his way to his office and Barry continued to watch him. He seemed so in his element; mulling over a case file, searching something on his computer, and still shaking his head with a smile at whatever he and his detectives were chatting about. His smile faded as he casually reached for his back pocket to get his phone. Barry observed him typing something; a text to his sister maybe? A semblance of a normal life? Then Barry’s phone buzzed in his breast pocket.  
  


Captain Snart:  
Tell me… did you do more or less work in the old timeline?  
  


“Less,” Barry said when he came over and poked his head in the captain’s office. “I used to moonlight as a superhero.”

“Cute.” Snart rubbed his temples and Barry started to actually feel bad. “I know this is a whole new world for you, Barry, but you have actually been a productive brown-nosing employee of mine for five years. Can you _speed_ up the process and remember that already?”

“Sorry,” Barry said. He dug deep to separate his two lives and prove he was in the present, _this_ present. “Umm, the fingerprints from the Tockman case showed two sets. I’ll run those through right away.”

Snart seemed pleased and surprisingly very understanding. Why wouldn’t he, Barry thought, he’s been in the same boat. He’s just had more years on him.

“Is there anything else, Mr. Allen?”

There was. There was a bunch more including a prayer’s chance of fixing the timeline but right now, Barry was hung up on one thing. “Eddie Thawne’s alive here.”

Snart didn’t seem fazed by this news. “Didn’t know he died. He was one of the few cops to arrest me.” Snart then smiled at that thought; “but let’s not tell him that, m’kay?” punctuating his request with a wink to Barry.

Barry chuckled with a nod and left to finally start his day. In his lab everything made sense; where and who he was, and why. He ran the Tockman case fingerprints to get an positive I.D., he tested soil samples from another case to pinpoint a possible location, and he studied the skid marks left by a getaway car from a separate robbery case. All in all, a very productive morning.

He spent a few moments going over his own Facebook page. Given Snart’s insistence that he catch up on his life, Barry assumed the captain would actually encourage this. He recognized some people, most of them from the force and his mom of course. There were a few posts of Patty Spivot but it didn’t look like they were dating, though there was an embarrassingly shaky video of the two of them singing karaoke to the tune of “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga. He clicked through to Patty’s page and learned she was a CSI in Starling City.

He saw that he and Iris were at least Facebook friends but it was obvious there was little to no interactions between the two of them. Barry considered that there was hope to build a new friendship with her. Maybe next time she came to visit Joe, he could strike up a conversation about the good old days at Carmichael Elementary School before they lost touch, or ask her about her job, whatever it was now. Even though he wasn’t the Flash anymore, he still felt like he was her Barry, even if she didn’t know it.

He also saw that she and Eddie were together. About two years ago, this would have upset him but he had to admit he was really happy for her. In fact, he was likely more happy for Eddie - he got the girl he deserved; the one that Barry let slip away.

This might have been the first time Barry allowed himself to think about the night he ran back to save his mom. For him, it was a mere two nights ago; for Snart it was 16 years. But for Iris, sitting on the porch of the house, pressing her lips gently against his, welcoming a future that will never be; that night never happened. She never knew how he ran away from her.

And yeah, it pained him now to picture her eyes staring back at him with the same want he had carried for all those years, only to be replaced by indifference or vague recognition. Hopefully this was an opportunity to start again.

He also did a search for Caitlin Snow and discovered, not surprisingly, that they were not friends at all. Her limited account also showed that she hadn’t updated in almost two years. Cisco’s account, on the other hand, was public and Barry was happy to learn that he was still at S.T.A.R. Labs probably still pushing the limits of imagination by building experimental gadgets and technologies. Cisco also seemed to have a weekly post that quoted a favourite sci-fi movie and Barry lamented that he wasn’t friends with either Cisco or Caitlin in this new world.

Through all his social media scouring, something was abundantly clear: His father was not in any recent photos. He even trolled his mother’s page which didn’t have a whole lot but her profile photo was a picture of both his parents and him as a child when they visited family in Keystone City. It was an old photo; a distant memory. Barry then started to pay closer attention to his own old posts and still no mention of Henry Allen, until…  
  


“Happy Father’s Day, Dad. Still missing you like mad.”  
  


And that was it. His father was dead. Barry still lost. The universe just would not allow him to have a complete childhood. Barry continued his own research through police reports and discovered his father died in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. The man plead guilty of manslaughter and served almost three years in Iron Heights. There was no scandal, no whodunnit mystery, and more importantly, no way of ever seeing his father again.

“Earth to Allen!” Barry snapped out of his thoughts to see Joe standing in the doorway of his lab. “Been calling your name for five minutes. You said you had the toxicology report from the Nimbus case.” Barry shook his head apologetically and dug through the files on his work table and handed the folder to Joe. “You alright, kid?” he asked as he was about to leave, his face kind and gentle, just like Barry remembered.

“Yeah, it’s just…” Barry didn’t want to involve Joe in whatever his life was like now. They were just colleagues; not friends and certainly not family. He just wanted to know him better. “Hey, Joe? Umm, Detective? How -- How are you?”

Joe seemed amused by his sudden interest. Barry could tell that their interactions were likely just polite small talk or professional banter at a crime scene. “I’m alright. Snart’s on my case about the Nimbus report since we have a press conference in an hour.” Joe’s attention then drifted to over Barry’s shoulder where he caught a glimpse of his computer screen. Sympathetic eyes darted back to Barry. “How old were you when your father died?” he asked.

“Fifteen,” Barry answered. He didn’t need to dig far into his memory anymore. It was all coming back to him like a gushing geyser. He was upstairs in his room mulling over his homework; character studies of Shakespearean villains or something he’d use in his adult life, when he heard glass shattering from afar. He ran down the stairs and found his mother in the living room, kneeling on the floor with the phone in her hand and shards of a broken vase surrounding her as silent sobs escaped from her throat. He didn’t remember how many times he shouted ‘Mom’ until she finally looked up at him with tear-stained cheeks and she simply replied, ‘Your father…’

“That’s rough, kid.” Joe pulled up a nearby stool and made himself comfortable. “I remember getting the call about Dr. Allen. He was a good man.

“You know, we’ve conditioned ourselves to not have to think about losing a parent until we are well into my age. Can’t be easy being forced to grow up so soon.”

Barry took comfort in hearing his words, any words spoken by him. He’d lost his actual father so many times yet somehow, in some form, Joe was always there. Suddenly a memory pounced on Barry; one he didn’t even think to look for. It was just there; it had always been there. He felt like such an idiot. “Oh my God, Joe. I’m so sorry! I completely forgot…”

Joe waved his hand with a soft smile on his face. “Don’t worry about it. I would never expect you to remember. It was a long time ago since you and Iris were friends.” Joe’s eyes glistened at the painful memory. “It’s been 16 years since we lost Wally and let me tell you… Losing a child, any loved one for that matter but especially a child, does not get easier with time.”

_Sixteen years?_

“You want my advice?” Joe continued as he stood up and walked toward Barry putting a fatherly hand on his shoulder and nodding toward the computer screen. “Revisiting the past causes more pain than solace.”

With his parting words, Joe left the lab. Barry closed his eyes and pictured his mom and all the years he was given with her and his dad. The Christmases and birthdays, the science fairs and family vacations. But soon it all faded away as he thought about Wally being denied all those same treasures. Wally might not have had the perfect life in the other timeline, what with his mother’s own illness and Joe’s estrangement, but he had a life; one that was meant to be.

Barry was sure Snart didn’t want to keep having these conversations but he didn’t want to do this alone. He couldn’t do it alone. He had made the decision to save his mother without considering the consequences, and while this world pieced itself together as a happy alternative with Eddie and his mom alive, his father still met a tragic end and Wally joined him at a very young age 16 years ago.

_Sixteen years ago -- that’s the red flag._

He made his way to Snart’s office and took a deep breath before turning the knob and walking in unannounced. Leonard was sitting at his desk reading a case file when he looked up, mildly startled by Barry’s sudden appearance. Surprisingly, Snart was neither annoyed nor angry by this intrusion.

“So, I can’t run back in time to fix things,” Barry blurted out, “but if we can flag the Waverider to take us to the night my mother died -- or rather didn’t die -- we might be able to hit the reset button and fix this paradox.”

“But they don’t exist, I checked,” Snart drawled challengingly.

“Maybe they were outside of the time stream, like you said. Maybe they were still in the Vanishing Point. And if they were, they might not have been affected by any changes to the timeline, and therefore might be able to change the timeline back.”

“That’s a lot of ‘mights’ and ‘maybes,’” Snart noted. Barry could see that he was entertaining the idea. He would be reunited with his time travelling team and things would be as they were before. It was in that moment where hope melted away and Snart’s eyes narrowed and studied Barry. “And you were stalking me this morning trying to figure out when and how you were going to tell me?” Leonard asked suspiciously. “Or if?” Barry’s silence and lack of eye contact was answer enough. “So, why are you telling me now? What did you remember?”

Barry answered his question with another question; “Did you know my father was dead?”

Snart flashed his trademark smirk and Barry never wanted to hit his face more than he did right now. Sensing this, Snart’s face softened a little. “I was living in Starling City as a beat cop and eventually a detective until I moved back to Central City to become captain. I only found out about your father when I re-met you and decided to do some homework on my new staff. I’m sorry for your loss Barry, but eventually we have to play the hand we’re dealt.”

“So you know what happened to Joe’s son?"

“Another tragedy. What’s your point?”

“He died 16 years ago,” Barry clarified. “Sixteen years. That’s can’t be a coincidence. You did your homework, right? Do you remember anything about the circumstances of his death?” Barry realized his voice was getting higher but his gut urged him to get to the bottom of this. His meddling of the timeline must have had a direct connection to Wally’s death. Snart, meanwhile, leaned back into his chair and tapped his fingers together as he tried to recall what happened to Detective West’s son.

“It was a hit and run. The perp was never caught apparently.”

“Do you remember where?” Barry pressed on. It was just a flicker of a moment but Barry saw a sad realization come across Snart’s eyes, though his steel glare tried to hide it. Snart seemed to be slowly piecing together what Barry had suspected.

“Corner of Johns and Kubert… three blocks north of Central City National Bank.” Snart then straightened up in his seat. “That doesn’t mean anything. I don’t even remember if it’s the same day as the bank robbery.”

“But we can find out, can’t we?” However, something deep down told both of them that it was the same day. In the cosmic sense, there were no accidents. “I know what I did was reckless and selfish,” he continued, forcing himself not to choke on his words as they spilled out, “but maybe you were sent back to that moment in the bank to make sure my mother… was killed. Something I could never do. If you were in the getaway car, maybe Wally would still be alive.”

Snart’s hand went up to his face and covered in mouth. Barry couldn’t tell if he was shocked or not, but there was definitely something going on in his eyes. Guilt, maybe? But Barry knew he was the only one to blame. Snart was just being a hero.

“Can it be done?” Snart then asked, “flagging the Waverider. Can you do it?”

“Theoretically,” Barry answered as Snart got up from his desk, closing the door behind Barry and slowly shutting the blinds of the windows of his office. Barry started pacing, turning his back to Snart as he continued. “We can assume a ship like the Waverider is leaving quantum signatures if it needs to travel trans-dimensionally through points of time, right? If we can track those signatures, we can send a distress call to their location.”

That’s when Barry heard the cocking of a gun.

“I can’t let you do that, Barry.” He turned to see Snart with his eyes narrowed and jaw clenched, aiming a Glock 22 directly at him. He instinctively put his hands up.

“What the hell are you---”

“I destroyed the Oculus because we learned that it was being used to manipulate our actions. That our destinies were not our own. Turns out we simply traded one puppet master for another.” Snart motioned the gun for Barry to sit down and he did though he held his ground.

“Snart,” he started, “everything you told me about the Waverider, saving the future, being a hero. Don’t you want that back? Don’t you want Mick and the others back?”

“I also told you about my husband, about this job, and about my death; all my choice!” Snart walked around to face Barry again, squeezing the handle of the gun a little harder, gripping it, almost daring himself to pull the trigger but that would just seal a fate he escaped a long time ago. “I won’t let you take that away from me.”

He saw the desperation in Snart’s face. He wasn’t threatening him, he was pleading with him. Barry opened his mouth to talk reason to him, as much reason as he could muster for a mess that he was solely responsible for, but they were interrupted when Joe gave a quick knock on the door and swung it open. With the reflexes of a cat, Snart whipped his hand behind his back, hiding his weapon. Barry wasn’t nearly fast enough as Joe raised an eyebrow when he saw him sitting in front of the captain with his hands up.

“Hey Captain… everything alright?” Barry lowered his arms and placed his hands uncomfortably in his lap.

“Of course,” Snart replied cooly. “Can I help you, Detective?”

Joe’s eyes shot back and forth between Snart and Barry, finally landing on the young CSI who knew if he connected eyes with his former foster father, he would’ve told him everything. “Yeah,” Joe started slowly, still eyeing Barry, “press members have started to assemble. We’re ready when you are.”

“Thank you, Detective. I’ll be there in 15.” Joe nodded to the captain and left the office closing the door behind him. The two men let out a deep sigh, though Barry’s was one of relief and Snart’s was one of exhaustion. Instead of pointing the gun back at Barry, Leonard simply slipped the gun back into his holster and said nothing.

“I’m sorry you got trapped in this,” Barry finally spoke, less nervous than he’d thought considering Snart just pulled a gun on him. “But Wally’s death is a direct result of what I did and I need to fix it---”

“Get out,” Snart said. “I have a job to do.”

~~~~~

Barry didn’t leave his lab for the rest of the day. He just buried himself in his work, forcing himself not to think of Wally, Joe, and Iris being a family, or of Snart having to give up a happy life he built for himself. He even ignored a phone call from his mother, unable to let himself create more fond memories if it meant he had to give them back.

Then his phone rang. It was Snart.

“Hello?” Barry was greeted with a silent disdain. “Snart?”

_What do you need to build the beacon?_

“I have a faint idea,” Barry told him. “We’ll need some help from someone at S.T.A.R. Labs.”

_I’ll make arrangements for tomorrow morning._


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we see where Snart was four years after the bank robbery incident, having adapted to his new timeline. Also present-day Barry and Snart visit S.T.A.R. Labs.

Leonard had just finished running seven laps around the field and his chest and thighs burned. He knew he was better than this as he lightly jogged over to the water fountain. His body might have been younger but he felt incredibly old. How did he get talked into joining the academy? He should have his head examined.

The good news was he excelled at Criminal Psychology. Imagine that.

“You call that a lap?” A familiar voice called out to him. Leonard looked up pass the chain link fence that surrounded the track, wiping the dribble of water off his chin.

“Detective. Checking up on your ward?” He crooned at the older officer.

“Nah,” Quentin Lance leaned his back up against the fence that separated them. “We have a bet going on over how far you’ll make it; just making sure my stock is in fine form, Don’t disappoint me, Snart.” Leonard laughed as he leaned up against the fence next to him. He looked out into the distance and saw Lance’s teenage daughter leaning up against a parked car, arms crossed and looking extremely impatient and annoyed.

“Hey Laurel!” he called out to her, almost mockingly.

“Hi Leo!” she yelled back, bored as ever.

“What is this? ‘Bring Your Daughter to Work’ day?” he whispered to Lance with a smirk.

“Laurel’s graduating soon,” Lance replied, “thinking of studying law or law enforcement.”

“Aww… Cop Dad and Lawyer Daughter. How _deliciously_ cliche.”

Lance pushed off the fence and turned to face Leonard, crossing his arms and matching his smug grin. “We can’t all have the same father-child relationship _you_ had.” Leonard shrugged his shoulders sheepishly.

“Listen though,” he continued, clearing his throat. His face and voice softened, very tender and fatherly; something Leonard never got from his own dad. “I just wanted to swing by and tell you that I’m proud of you. You’ve come a long way, kid.” Leonard winced at being called ‘kid’ but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t touched by Lance’s words. “You know, when you showed up at the S.C.P.D. almost four years ago, I wasn’t sure what you were looking for but I hope you found it.”

“I don’t do touchy-feely,” Leonard prefaced, looking down and kicking the dirt at his feet, “but thanks. You’ve helped me get here and I really do appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

Of course, Leonard never told Quentin why he showed up at the Starling City precinct that day. Shortly after the bank robbery incident, which he was fortunate to not have any charges pressed (Nora Allen’s statement and the statements of others basically saved his ass), Leonard sought out Mick and discovered that he didn’t exist. He went to all their usual haunts, and hit up the usual scumbags and no one even heard a of Mick Rory at all. The only other person he wanted -- no, _needed_ \-- to see was Sara Lance. Leonard thought he was out of his mind to hop a train to Starling City. If he had found Sara at her home or school, what would he even tell this 13 year old girl? More importantly, what would he tell the police who would inevitably and rightfully arrest him for stalking a minor.

So, Leonard followed the only lead he had. He went to Quentin Lance and learned quite quickly this man only had one daughter and she was not the White Canary.

And for some reason Lance took to him immediately seeing something in him. He believed this mysterious vagabond could be more than what he was, despite his troubled childhood and his father’s corrupt background… just like Sara did. Leonard somehow became friends with Lance, who in turn became somewhat of a mentor to him. He pushed Leonard to take online summer courses to finally get his high school diploma, and eventually encouraged him to join the academy. He always thought if he was ever going to meet Sara’s father, it was because he was being arrested by him for getting into a bar fight alongside his own daughter.

This was a completely different world now; one where Detective Lance had basically become his foster father and Leonard wanted a future with his daughter (even though she technically didn’t exist).

He also really admired how proud and loving Lance was with the daughter that did exist, and he imagined that Sara got just as much love from him and their mother had she existed here. He remembered how much Sara spoke of Laurel, this girl who would grow up to be an intelligent and striking woman; a fierce hero that Sara would aspire to be.

It saddened him that Quentin and Laurel never knew what was missing from their lives.

“Daddy!” Laurel whined from afar. “Can we go now? I have to meet Ollie in an hour!”

“Jesus Christ, she’s still dating that fluffy haired pretty boy?” Leonard hissed. There might be a chance he harboured some animosity toward the little rich kid. Afterall, in another lifetime, he could be Sara’s ex and, as Sara once told him, was capable of hurting Laurel over and over again.

“Don’t get me started!” Lance sighed as he turned to leave. “Oh, one more thing! You coming to the party on Saturday?”

“Oh God, I don’t know…”

“Please! Dinah’s going all out and she really wants you there.” Lance held his palms together as a half-ass plea and Leonard nodded in defeat. “Warning,” he added, “She is trying to set you up with a couple of nurses from the hospital, Janine and Mark. They don’t know they’re supposed to be competing for your affection so please do us all a favour: Bring a date who’s not your sister.” Bless Dinah for trying to play matchmaker, and bless Quentin for knowing it would be a complete and utter catastrophe. They laughed and Lance waved goodbye and jogged over to his daughter.

Leonard was tired of putting up a pleasant face in these social situations but he’d do it for the Lances. Maybe he could just hire a prostitute to pose as his date, he thought to himself. _Oh right, I’m trying to be a cop._

He packed up his stuff and hit the showers then headed home. He sometimes forgot what his day to day routine used to be. From time to time, an impulse to steal something, _anything,_ rumbled in his chest - just to feel alive and challenged, but he had to remind himself that that’s not who he was anymore. He had Lance to blame for that ever since he decided to move to Starling City. These days his routine consisted of training and studying, going to the gym, hitting up a cafe and grabbing a coffee, then going home. It was extremely boring yet oddly welcoming.

Just down the street from his very modest one bedroom apartment was a Grind and Jolt coffee shop that might as well have been another CC Jitters but with a different logo. It did its job as a trendy cafe, very different from the skeazy bars he used to frequent in his other life. It was a regular stop for him but he refused to allow himself to be recognized as a regular by the staff. The day that happens, he’d likely stop going.

He paid for his coffee, successfully avoiding eye contact with anyone which unfortunately caused him to violently bump into someone. He involuntarily let out a slew of curses as his coffee exploded almost comically all over his S.C.P.D. Academy shirt and also making the other man drop his folder of papers.

“Oh my God, I am so sorry!” the man exclaimed, using his hands to wipe Leonard’s soaked chest, completely disregarding the perfectly available stack of napkins on the nearby counter. He was a tall African-American man, possibly in his early 20s, with thick black hair and thick black framed glasses. He was wearing a short sleeved plaid shirt buttoned right to the top that looked like it was struggling to stay on over his clearly toned torso.

“I’m good, don’t worry about it,” Leonard insisted, finally pulling away and reaching for the napkins to thoroughly soak up the coffee from his shirt. The guy looked visibly embarrassed as he remembered the bundle of paper he dropped and he started to pick them up. Leonard, curious as ever, tilted his head to read what was scribbled on those sheets. It looked like math equations that read like hieroglyphics. “What are you? A scientist?”

The young man chuckled after finally gathering his stuff together. “Jr. Tech Engineer Intern, actually. For Queen Consolidated. Just bringing some work home with me. You know what they say: No rest…” Leonard quirked an eye at him, unwilling to finish this nerd’s sentence. The man gleefully continued. “... For the wicked.”

“Cute,” Leonard said as he held a fresh napkin between his index and middle finger. “You got some coffee on your pants,” he told him, pretending he wasn’t looking. Leonard couldn’t help but smile as the young man frantically rubbed the coffee stain deeper into the fabric of his pants. “Well,” he finally said, “take it easy, kid.”

“Hey,” he reached up and grabbed Leonard by the shoulder, intending to politely tap him but jerking him back instead. “Let me buy you another coffee since, you know, you’re kind of wearing yours.” Leonard sighed, but it was a content sigh as he motioned his arm in front of him, allowing this eager young man to lead the way back into the line.

Once they got their coffees, they stood by the sugar and cream station where Leonard watched the guy load up his cup with an obscene amount of sugar.

“Training begins next week. Getting my sugar fix now.”

Okay, his interest was piqued. “Training for what?” Leonard asked dryly.

“Decathlon,” he answered proudly. _Christ, this guy is a porn parody._ “My name’s Curtis, by the way, Curtis Holt.”

“Hello, Curtis. I’m Leonard.”

“Officer Leonard?” Curtis asked with a coy smile gesturing to Leonard’s shirt.

“Soon.” Leonard didn’t like being charmed, but this nerdy decathlete clutz, who was maybe ten years his junior (almost 30 years if he was counting total life experience), was definitely doing a number on him. “You free Saturday?” he asked before he could even stop himself.

But it didn’t seem to faze Curtis who was overly delighted. “Finally!” he exhaled, “I was wondering when we could cut the sexual tension!”

“Easy there,” Leonard laughed, blushing, “I’m actually inviting you to a suburban cocktail party. Hardly the setting for a hot first date. I promised my friend I’d bring someone and you seem… nice.” God, he hated how he sounded. If he ever tried these moves with Sara, she would’ve spin-kicked him to Keystone.

“If you need someone to make you look good, I’m you’re guy!” Curtis said with a wink. Leonard felt a knot in his stomach and his breath hitched slightly in his chest. Dammit, he was done for! Curtis ripped a piece of paper and he jotted down his number for Leonard. “So long as you’re not just bringing me to this party to set me up with someone else.”

Leonard took the number and committed the digits to memory. He didn’t know why he then swept the scrap piece of paper gently across his lips all while locking eyes with the young man but it made Curtis shallow hard and sweat a little.

Yeah, that’s probably why he did it.

~~~~~

It was an unusually brisk morning when Barry found Snart’s car parked in front of his apartment. Barry got a couple of coffees for them at CC Jitters just down the street. It would in no way make up for asking Snart to give up his entire existence but it could at least act as a peace offering of sorts.

“Here,” he offered as he got into the car with the captain.

“I don’t drink coffee,” Snart hissed, refusing to look at him. He was obviously lying but Barry allowed Snart the space he needed as he delicately placed the paper cup in the cup holder and quietly sipped his own coffee. Not 24 hours ago, Barry was staring down the barrel of Snart’s gun so he’d gladly take a cold shoulder over a bullet any day.

They continued to sit in the car for several minutes with no heat and in complete silence.

“So what’s the---”

“Sorry,” Snart interrupted him in a low voice, still looking straight ahead and gripping the steering wheel. “About yesterday. I shouldn’t have pulled a gun on you. Please forgive me.” Snart finally turned his head to face Barry who nodded, despite being caught off guard by his raw sincerity. The steam from Snart’s coffee was slowly disappearing but he reached for it and took a sip anyway, as though that was his peace offering.

“The plan, for now, is to gather information,” he continued, much more engaged and warm with Barry. “It’s 0700 hours now meaning S.T.A.R. Labs has limited staff. I have it on good authority Dr. Harrison Wells comes in at 0900 hours, however your personal Ron Weasley should be there now.” Barry sat up like a puppy at the thought of seeing his old friend Cisco again. “Keep it in your pants, Allen. He won’t know who you are.

“We’ll need to procure a list of their inventory and get a lay of the land. I’ve managed to get S.T.A.R. Labs’ blueprints from Development and Services but it doesn’t exactly tell me where they’d keep their high-tech stuff; I suspect it’s in the sub-levels; where you and your super-friends used to hide Mardon, Baez, and the others. I’ll also need to examine the advanced security systems they’ll have. Since you used to practically live there, any input will help.

“Your job is to keep Ramon talking. There was a recent report that S.T.A.R. Labs was theorizing temporal displacement, that might help us. If you can get him to talk about quantum whatever, then do it. But don’t push it. If he gets defensive, talk about the 12 Colonies or whatever you girls gush about.

“Once we see a list of the available parts and understand the building’s security, I can thoroughly plan a break-in after hours and steal what we need. I recall Palmer boasting about this beacon he built specifically to call the Waverider using parts from his suit. I may or may not have taken that suit a part a few times to study it without his knowledge, so I have a vague idea of certain components. However, you definitely know the science better than me so we’ll need to lean heavy on that. Any questions?”

Barry had seen Captain Snart conduct briefings and plan raids but he’d never seen Captain _Cold_ plan a heist before -- they were oddly very similar.

“How do you plan to get the list of inventory?” Barry asked. “Their computer system is probably just as sophisticated as their security. I’m not really confident in my hacking abilities.”

“Hacking?” Snart scoffed and flashed a Cheshire Cat-like smile at Barry. “I started stealing in the early 80s. There are more practical ways to get information than _hacking_.”

~~~~~

Barry and Snart walked in through the main entrance of S.T.A.R. Labs -- more accurately, Barry walked in, Snart strode. Barry instantly took in how well-lit the main lobby was, decorated with bright paintings with actual plant life accenting the space. There was a modest front receptionist desk beside what looked like a large and, albeit gaudy, Welcome Centre booth that was clearly not open at this hour. Barry glanced over to Leonard with a confused look on his face.

“They started doing daily tours ever since the Mercury Labs’ particle accelerator explosion as a way to show how ‘transparent’ they are with the work they do here,” Snart explained under his breath as they approached the smaller desk where a young, curvy blonde woman sat, visibly tired and annoyed before Snart even had the chance to reach for his badge.

“Hi,” Snart flashed his badge as he squinted at the woman’s name tag pinned to her chest making her perk up embarrassingly, “Molly. I’m Captain Snart with the C.C.P.D. and this is my associate, Mr. Allen. Is there someone we can speak to concerning some equipment of interest?”

Molly suddenly looked worried. Since the Mercury Labs explosion, any mention of equipment was cause for concern and panic. “I’m sorry, Dr. Wells is not in yet. We’ve recently had inspections at the facilities and--”

“Is there anyone else we _can_ speak to? This is of some urgency.” Snart cut her off but did offer a reassuring smile. “Nothing to be worried about. Just following a lead.”

Molly relaxed as she reached for the phone and dialed an extension. “Mr. Rathaway, C.C.P.D. is here… Following a lead… Something about equipment… Two of them… Yes, sir.” She looked up at Snart and half-smiled. “He’ll be right up.”

Snart waited patiently exuding confidence from every pore. Barry, on the other hand, was shifting his weight from foot to foot, with his hands tucked in pocket and his face 50 shades of guilt. _Relax, Barry. Relax._

“Detectives,” Barry recognized the pompous tone of Hartley Rathaway as he turned to see the young physicist emerge from the elevator just off of the lobby. He wore horn-rimmed glasses that balanced on the bridge of his nose, his hair was slicked back and he had an arrogant air about him. Looks like he didn’t need a hooded coat and sonic gloves to nail the nefarious villain look. “I’m Hartley Rathaway, Snr. Physicist at S.T.A.R. Labs. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“ _Captain_ Snart,” Leonard corrected him with a plastered smile and brandishing his badge once again. “We received a tip about stolen material from this facility. We fear black market weaponization and were hoping you can provide an inventory list to verify no potentially dangerous items have gone missing or tampered with.”

Rathaway seemed taken aback by such a request yet Snart didn’t back down and waited for the inevitable pushback that he was going to get. “All due respect, _Captain_ , we have some highly sensitive work here. I can’t just hand over a list of our assets. If it were to get out, we’d could have a bigger problem than black market weapons.” Hartley crossed his arms defiantly and turned his chin up to the police captain. Barry was too ready to admit defeat and was already thinking of Plan B. “Now, unless you have a warrant---”

“No one is under arrest or under suspicion, Mr. Rathaway,” Snart remained cool and collected, expecting no less of a response from the guarded physicist. “I was hoping to have your cooperation before this issue escalated. If you prefer I contact Dr. Wells and inform him of a potentially damaging breach of his facility, I’d be more than happy to wait around for him.” Snart then glanced down at his watch; not impatiently, not irate, just casual enough to make Hartley inhale deeply. It was probably the most calculated move Barry had seen Snart make and it was barely a move.

Hartley peered over their shoulders to the receptionist. “Molly, can you please provide Captain Snart a copy of our Class B and C inventory?” As she click-clacked on her keyboard and began printing out the list, Hartley looked back at Snart, barely paying Barry any attention. “Classes B and C inventory is our standard equipment and projects file. It’s checked on the daily. Anything else, I’ll have to get our chief mechanical engineer to escort you personally, if that’s okay with you.”

Snart just gave Hartley a small nod as he gestured Barry to take the list from Molly.

“And it’s _Doctor_ Rathaway,” he added before leading them to the elevator to the lower levels. As he pressed the down arrow with more aplomb than necessary, he finally took a moment to acknowledge and size up Barry. “Who are you?”

Barry stammered to answer having forgotten that he even had a voice. Luckily Snart filled in the awkward blanks. “This is Barry Allen, our CSI.”

Hartley raised an eyebrow. “But this isn’t a crime scene,” he challenged.

“That we know of.”

_[Ding]_

They stepped into the elevator which, to Barry, was the real entrance to S.T.A.R. Labs. This descent was to take him to his old home-away-from-home. Hartley led them to the all-too-familiar tech lab. The set-up was slightly different; accomodating more work stations than just Cisco and Caitlin, and of course there was no display case for a red suit nor was there a treadmill to be seen, but as Snart predicted, it was virtually empty at this hour.

The would-be birthplace of The Flash.

Cisco’s back was turned to them, his full attention on whatever contraption he was working on. His long dark hair was in a half-bun and his ears were covered with noise-cancelling headphones. He wore jeans and a tan blazer which threw off Barry, but it was no doubt Cisco Ramon -- mechanical engineer, former best friend, lover of Harry Potter.

Hartley flicked the back of his neck jolting him up as he violently ripped the headphones from his ears.

“Dude!” he shouted, glaring at Hartley with both annoyance and contempt. He held the massive piece of hardware he was working on, “You realize what would happen if one false move made this thing’s core go critical? This room would drop to _absolute-zero_ temperatures. We’d be frozen solid before anyone could belt out ‘Let It Go,’ get it?”

While Hartley disregarded Cisco’s outburst, Barry caught a glimpse of Snart whose eyes lit up like a Christmas tree at the sight of a cold gun, as though he was reunited with an old friend. Luckily, the bickering physicist and engineer didn’t see the crack in Snart’s poker face. Collecting himself, he cleared his throat. “Why are earth would you make something that could do that?” Snart asked.

“Who the hell is this?” Cisco fired back. Hartley sported a smug face as he exchanged intros and gave a brief summary for the C.C.P.D.’s presence. Cisco’s face turned several shades of red as he offered apologies and, at one point, his half-eaten breakfast.

“To answer your question,” he now enthusiastically replied, “this baby is a prototype for preventative measures. Imagine outfitting power plants or even places like this and Mercury Labs with a device that could contain any blast or meltdown before it becomes critical!”

“But what if it got into the hands of a sociopath?” Barry intervened with a sly smirk dedicated to Snart, who just rolled his eyes.

“It would suck!” He chuckled in response to Barry until he sensed the room. “Sorry, let me show you around. Later, Hart. Go _think_ up something cool for me to build.” Hartley then turned on his heels without so much of a reaction and left Cisco with the Barry and the captain.

“Off the top,” Cisco started, “nothing is missing. Everything we build, imagine, produce, _birth_ ; all my babies, my life. If anything went missing, I assure you, I’d know.”

Snart smiled but Barry could tell he was getting a little anxious. “Humour us,” he asked of Cisco, almost through gritted teeth. “We’d just like a rundown of what you guys have here, and if something, _anything_ , is missing or questionable. You can certainly understand our concern to take every tip seriously.”

Cisco nodded in defeat but instantly bounced back seeing this as an opportunity to boast. In the actual lab he went through their projects and assured that everything was where it should be including all calculations related to them secured on their main hard drive which only had one back-up that Cisco called himself both the ‘gatekeeper and keymaster.’ There was the cold gun, circuit disruptors, and a special taser.

“I called it a ‘Sleep Shooter.’ It shoots unidirectional vibrational frequencies that triggers the neurotransmitters in the brain that releases the chemical that can induce sleep as opposed to your barbaric tasers which attack the central nervous system,” Cisco explained with pride, “Something you might consider for your police force, Captain.”

Snart was actually impressed with that particular item as though he was considering on placing an order for the C.C.P.D. He then continued to prod for more information, asking point blank detailed questions about their security, which just strengthened their cover about a fake breach but also conveniently fulfilled their need of getting the information required to break in later. And Cisco answered every question like he was confessing to his priest; after all, he was talking to a police captain, not a master thief. If all of Snart’s heists were handed to him like this, he’d never be caught.

Regardless, the only things Barry saw that could help them were on the printed list of assets and at best he’d be able to build a ham radio.

“Very impressive stuff here,” Barry commented as they made their way to the lower level, also known as the pipeline for him, “it’s a wonder you guys haven’t invented time travel yet.” Snart’s face scrunched up behind Cisco’s back indicating to Barry his embarrassing lack of stealth, to which Barry gestured to him to take it easy as he knows how to handle Cisco. Cisco, as predicted, was not the least bit suspicious; it was more of a challenge to him.

“Don’t insult me,” Cisco retorted as he swiped a keycard over a metallic pad on the door, a move that was of great interest to Snart. “Time travel has always theoretically been possible going forward. It’s going _back_ in time that poses problems. You’d need to establish insane speeds to make a dent in the space time continuum let alone rip through it.” _Great_ , Barry thought, _all we need is a speedster but sadly we’re fresh out_. “The real question,” Cisco continued, “what kind of car should the time machine be?”

They finally reached the pipeline which looked generally the same except instead of glass cells holding metahumans, the compartments were used as storage for larger equipment and hardware. Cisco went through each item, entering code numbers into a keypad that brought the desired box and its occupant to them. Barry did his best to commit everything to memory and he saw that Snart was doing the same. They were such items are eco-friendly power generators or solar powered engines, all of which seemed to bore Snart.

“We also have a bio-chemical division,” Cisco offered but Snart waved him off.

“I think we’ve seen all we needed.” He gestured for Cisco to lead them back up the way they came. Cisco seemed genuinely confused by Snart’s dismissal and why wouldn’t he, Barry thought. If they were supposed to be there to investigate possible stolen weaponry, bio-chemical devices should definitely be of great concern to a police captain. He hoped that didn’t give them away.

Snart barely said anything on the way out leaving Barry to extend their gratitude for their cooperation and he even left his contact card with Cisco under the guise to call him if anything goes missing. They returned to the car feeling somewhat defeated. Barry scanned the list of items they were able to take with them and he made a mental checklist of what was valuable.

“Thoughts?” he asked Snart.

“There were a couple of things I saw that we could use,” Snart replied quietly, furrowing his brow as he remained in deep thought.

“Well, I can definitely build something that can transmit a signal and I got a couple of ideas from what Cisco said about using speed.” Barry was already working out the equations in his head as Snart sat in the driver’s seat in silence, keeping his eyes on the building’s main entrance. “Maybe we can create a direct sonic boom that could rip through the space time continuum. Piece of cake,” he added sarcastically. “Not to mention I still have no idea how to find the Waverider so we’re still out of luck---”

“Hey!” Barry’s head snapped in the direction of Cisco running out of the building calling out to them. He looked pissed. Snart, meanwhile, calmly stepped out of the vehicle toward Cisco. Barry observed as Cisco pointed and inaudibly yelled at Snart and then he suddenly collapsed to the ground. Snart scanned the area before bending down and picking up the unconscious mechanical engineer and rushing him into the backseat of the car where he placed him upright and fastened his seatbelt. The car was now filled with the light snoring of Cisco Ramon.

“What the hell, Snart!” Barry exclaimed once Snart was back in the driver’s seat revving the engine.

“I told you there were a couple of things we could use,” he said, casually tossing the Sleep Shooter into Barry’s lap.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry must convince Cisco to help and they gain yet another ally.

Snart leaned up against the glass of the cell that was usually reserved for the special cases like The Trickster at Iron Heights. He filled out some fake paperwork using the alias “Mick Rory” to process Cisco which raised some eyebrows from the guards. Cisco was still unconscious and peacefully sleeping on the cot in the cell. Snart was getting impatient. He started to lightly tap on the glass like a child trying to get an animal to do a trick at the zoo.

“You seem upset,” he finally said to Barry who was scowling in the corner of the room. After all his memories of working under Captain Snart had started to come back, all the memories of a well-respected leader, seeing this version of him again was rather disappointing.

“You’re a police captain!” He exclaimed angrily.

“Not once we restore the timeline,” he answered nonchalantly. Seeing that Barry was clearly not amused, Snart sighed. “Barry, we were planning on stealing equipment to build a device to call a time machine to fix a timeline that  _ you _ screwed up for personal gain. Don’t start playing the hero role now. No one’s a hero. No one ever was.”

That seemed to shut Barry up for now. 

After waiting ten more minutes, Snart opted to head back to the precinct leaving Barry with the task of convincing Cisco to help them based on nothing. He was given free reign to be as honest or deceptive since it didn’t seem to matter anymore; whatever it took to get Cisco on board with this ridiculous plan. 

While Snart seemed to have adopted a ‘Devil May Care’ attitude, something that was very different from the Captain Cold  _ and  _ Captain Snart that he knew, Barry couldn’t help but noticed an air of sadness in how he conducted himself in this whole mission. He had seen what this life meant to Snart and they both knew what it meant to fix this timeline -- it was all in Barry’s plea to restore Joe West’s son.

Cisco started to shift in the cot, smacking his lips as he rolled over. His eyes fluttered open. “Where am I?” he yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and finally focusing on Barry who stood outside his glass casing. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. Barry held his hands up for some reason, as though that would explain anything to his prisoner, who was now fully awake and had sat upright to point an accusing finger at his captor. “You!” he yelled. “What the hell, dude!”

“Now, calm down,” Barry told him soothingly. It’s a known fact, Barry discovered, that telling someone to calm down is a surefire way of increasing anxiety.

“Who are you people? Where am I? What do you want?”

_ All excellent questions. _

“We need your help,” Barry started. He could already see that Cisco was not in the mood to listen. He got up and began pacing in the cell, puffing his chest and biting the inside of his cheek. They never really gave him a reason to want to help -- well, they did but that turned out to be a lie. “We need you to build something.”

“Forget it!” Cisco rightfully replied, “why the hell would I help you? You people kidnapped me!” Barry realized he had to appeal to Cisco, threats and kidnapping was definitely a bad start. He just had to get him to keep an open mind until he was finished.

“You’ve seen  _ Back to the Future II _ ?” Cisco crossed his arms and glared at Barry. “Just hear me out, please.” He gestured for Cisco to take a seat on the cot as he took a deep breath and his next words slowly. “I travelled to the past and changed something and because of the changes I made, I created an alternate timeline and caused the death of someone else and I need your help to fix it.”

“Hold on, Future Boy!” Cisco stood up and stopped Barry, “You’ve built a time machine?”

“No. I just ran really fast. Captain Snart has travelled in a time ship but it wasn’t his. It was from the future.” Barry replied earnestly. Cisco stared at him blankly until he cracked a smile for the first time since being in this cell. The smile turned into a chuckle, then a high-pitched giggle, and then finally he erupted in a hearty laugh and Barry couldn’t help but join in. He collapsed back onto the cot, wiping several tears from his eyes and trying to catch his breath. Barry cleared his throat before continuing. “All we’re asking is for you to help us find it.”

Cisco was bewildered at what he was hearing and Barry had no way of tip-toeing around this sort of information. He just trusted that Cisco’s curiosity was enough to convince him to help them. “Let’s assume this is true, and I’m not saying it is, but why would I help you?”

An excellent question, Barry thought. Asking Cisco for help meant erasing his own existence. It was the same position Snart was struggling with yesterday and Barry wondered how he had come around. The difference between Snart and Cisco, however, is that Snart knew what the original timeline was like; what he was like. For Cisco,  _ this _ Cisco, it was a gamble and a leap of faith. How could Barry convince him it was better than the life he had now? He knew nothing of this Cisco and for all Barry knew, he was asking him to give up the perfect life.

And if Barry were to be selfish (again), he just wanted his friends back.

“You get to see a time-travelling spaceship?” Barry shrugged almost in defeat.

Cisco blinked twice. “God damn you.”

~~~~~

Cisco naturally had questions after Barry unlocked the cell and let him out. What was so important about the other timeline that it deemed this one expendable? What was he like and was he rich and famous? The only answer Barry had for him was that whether it was better or worse, this timeline was a paradox and should not exist. He had hoped the explanation that they were friends and that they helped people was enough but it would clearly not have any value to this Cisco. But he did expressed that they both had super powers.

“For real? We’re honest-to-God super heroes?” Cisco was delighted for a moment. Barry reached deep into his memory for any knowledge about the metahumans in this reality. As far as he could recall, there weren’t a lot of super villains here; they were considered more like outsiders who chose to keep themselves separate from the rest of Central City. No super villains, but also no heroes either. Not that there were a whole lot of metas who took the road of do-gooders the way that the Flash and Vibe did.

Snart returned to Iron Heights around noon, surprisingly bringing with him some Big Belly Burger for their captive. Despite his agreement to help build a beacon for the Waverider, a task he thought was more of a challenge than acceptance of time travel and paradoxes, Cisco was still understandably wary of Snart.

“Sorry for kidnapping you,” Snart offered Cisco as a half-assed apology as he tossed the greasy bag of fast food to him. He was definitely more smug and proud than sorry and Barry once again felt a wave of disappointment toward Snart. He was acting like… well, like the old Snart.

“Apology not accepted, T-1000!” Cisco fired back. “Look, I’m doing this for three reasons: One, to prove I can. Two, to prove you wrong. And in the off-chance that you are right; three, to see a freaking time-travelling spaceship, m’kay?”

Snart shot a shit-eating grin to Barry and then to Cisco. “Need a lift back to work?” he finally asked; “I suppose S.T.A.R. Labs is missing their star drone.”

“Actually,” Cisco turned his attention to Barry, refusing to pay Snart any more attention, “S.T.A.R. Labs isn’t the problem. I can build a transmitter that can sext all the way to two galaxies in my sleep and Dr. Wells would be none the wiser. But there’s only one place I know that has a prototype device that can lock onto temporal radiation. With a little finagling from me, I can get it to track quantum signatures and send whatever message you want it to.”

Barry trusted that Cisco knew the math and the science to get it done. He couldn’t fight the smile that stretched across his face, lit by a ray of hope. Snart, though impressed and intrigued, let the smirk slip from his lips as he dreaded what Cisco was about to suggest.

“Mercury Labs,” Snart drawled.

Cisco nodded. Mercury Labs was located just outside city limits; a fact that saved the rest of the city from being affected by the particle accelerator explosion a couple of years back. Almost all of the people affected by the explosion chose to make the facility their home, like a Fortress of Solitude. Some, the ones who didn’t feel shunned by others, made covert visits into the city centre to pick up food shipments and supplies for their fellow metahumans or just to visit family. The mayor ordered Captain Snart and to form a special task force just in case one of the superpowered geniuses decided to attack the city. They never did.

“So we go in and steal it?” Barry suggested surprising even himself that that was his first thought making Snart a little proud, though he instantly dismissed it.

“We do that and get caught, who knows how they’ll retaliate against the city. I have no way of knowing what sort of security they’ve put on the place,” Snart informed him.

Fair enough, Barry thought. He then turned to Cisco. “There must be someone you know there that can help us.”

Cisco scoffed amusingly. “I haven’t even seen Captain Cold since the explosion. I doubt she’d answer a call from me, let alone understand why.” Barry and Snart stared blankly at Cisco, bemused at the particular name he chose for the metahuman though not for the same reasons Cisco thought. “Umm, that’s what I can call Dr. Caitlin Snow. You know, she can shoot ice --”

“Yeah, we get it,” Barry interjected quickly. 

After a long moment, Cisco sighed heavily and reached for his phone. “How do I even start this conversation? ‘Hey, remember me? Sorry, you got turned into a freak. By the way, a couple of time-traveling kidnappers need our help destroying our world to restore theirs!’”

“You might want to avoid the word ‘freak,’” Barry whispered.

“As well as all of the other words,” Snart added.

Cisco took a deep breath and began dialing on his phone. He exited the room to the hallway for some privacy leaving Barry alone with Snart who found a comfortable spot against the wall and leaned up on it and crossed his arms. They could hear the nervous mumbling of Cisco on his phone with Caitlin Snow, or Cait as Barry used to call her. He pulled his attention away from that conversation, not envying the awkwardness they were forcing Cisco into. He then fixed his eyes on Snart, who was looking down to the floor, avoiding any menial chatter from Barry. It didn’t work.

“Can I ask you something?” Barry finally broke the silence which instantly caused Snart to smirk, as though he was counting down the seconds until Barry was going to say something and he was right on the money.

“I feel like there’s no way of stopping you so go ahead,” Snart replied.

Barry hesitated then dove in. “What made you change your mind?” 

Snart looked up at Barry. Still a cold and serious look on his face though his features softened slightly. That’s when Barry knew Snart was ready to lower his defenses.    


“Everything,” he eventually answered quietly. “Cause and effect. I never knew Curtis in my other life but all the things that had to occur in this timeline for me to meet him and make us to move to Central City, where he began working at Mercury Labs, led to his death. He could very well still be alive if he’d never bumped into me at that coffee shop. Just like if your mother wasn’t at the bank that day, my partner would’ve kept his cool and not panicked when he got behind the wheel of that car that hit Joe’s boy Wallace.” 

Snart pushed himself off the wall and moved closer to Barry. “What if I continued doing what I was doing? Whether you agreed with my previous vocation or not, it led me to the Waverider and everything I’ve seen and become while traveling with those idiots. The idea of me becoming a cop and being a better person was only because of Sara Lance, so am I truly who I’m supposed to be if she doesn’t even exist here?” Snart was inches from Barry now as he stared intensely into his eyes, challenging him, even pleading with him. “So, yeah… everything changed my mind last night.”

The former speedster and former thief didn’t even hear Cisco re-enter the room. He had a puzzled look on his face, almost perturbed, when Barry finally looked at him.

“Well?” Barry asked, “will Cait, I mean Dr. Snow, meet us?”

“Yeah,”Cisco said slowly. “Apparently she was waiting for someone to contact them about this…”

~~~~~

Caitlin had established a meeting spot -- a beaten down gas station in a rural area just before exiting the city. Snart was reluctant to attend the meeting given his feelings about Mercury Labs and its inhabitants, and his position as the C.C.P.D. captain. He eventually conceded telling Barry he was curious to meet ‘Captain Cold’ and insisted that he drive though Barry sensed there was more to it than that. Snart was being protective.

All three men waited anxiously in the car displaying their nervousness in different ways. Cisco found himself muttering movie quotes and Snart was constantly surveying the area, discreetly glancing at all available rearview mirrors. Meanwhile, Barry sat in the passenger seat and couldn’t seem to stop his knees from moving, much to the annoyance of Snart. He felt restless and for the first time in a long while, he’d forgotten how much he missed his speed. Snart snapped his hand to Barry’s knee to stop his movements as a black car rolled up to the gas station and parked several feet away from them and they stepped out of their cars to greet each other.

Caitlin Snow sauntered her way toward them carrying a small metal disc that looked like a weight plate in her hand. It startled Barry to see the silvery hair, pale skin, and metallic blue lips of the Earth-2 metahuman Killer Frost from his timeline, but she wore Caitlin’s light pink v-neck sweater and grey slacks. His Cait.

“Hello Francisco. Captain Snart.” She paused and looked at Barry inquisitively. Her voice was soft and friendly, not at all the icy tone he’d expect from such a frosty face.

“Barry,” he choked out while locking eyes with his dear and distant friend. She simply smiled warmly at him but her eyes couldn’t stray from Snart for too long. 

“I knew Curtis,” she started, sympathy dripping from her words, “we were friends…” 

Snart sucked in a sharp breath. “Is that the device?” He demanded referring to the metal disc in her hand and stopping her from continuing. Caitlin didn’t press him any further as she handed the device to Cisco.

“Thanks,” Cisco said apprehensively. “How did you-- how did you know we’d contact you for help?”

“Our structural engineer Ronnie Raymond acquired the ability to detect and connect with the vibrations within time and space. He said our universe felt fractured,” she explained. “We’ve been working on fixing it, theorizing a change in our timeline but we didn’t know when, where, or how. Dr. Harmon, who had the ability to run at extreme speeds, attempted to break the space time continuum in order to find the fracture in time. I even created a serum to help  with her speed. It killed her.”

Snart stepped toward Caitlin at the news that someone had died but said nothing.

“There was also no body to bury,” Caitlin said, reading the look on his face but not addressing the issue that no one called in the death. The city had basically abandoned the metahumans and they had to govern and police themselves. “I even called her family but they’ve long shunned her for being what she was. In fact, they seemed relieved.” Barry didn’t realized he made an audible and disgusted gasp bringing Caitlin’s attention back on him. His driving motivation for changing things back to the way they were was because of his guilt over Wally’s death. He couldn’t live with himself knowing he’d traded his mother’s life for another. But what he didn’t count on was seeing how his actions rippled into a bigger issue. 

“You know where the fracture is, don’t you?” she asked.

Barry nodded. “Yes, I created it and we need your help to make it right again, Cait.” She tensed at the sound of his casual familiarity with her.

“You knew me?” she asked, reaching a hand to his cheek. Barry felt his skin cool to her touch; not dangerously, just enough to get to know her. “Was I a metahuman in your timeline?”

“No,” he answered as he gently pulled her hand away from his face and fought the frost that began to slowly envelop his fingers. “But I was.”

Her eyes stayed on Barry but she addressed Cisco. “Ronnie said that we are friends and colleagues in this other timeline. If you have a way to travel through time, we can work together to call your time machine and set things right. You’re welcomed to use our labs if that’s easier.” She turned her head to Cisco finally and found him stunned and speechless. Barry felt relieved that someone was finally able to validate his story for him.

“Go to Mercury Labs?” Cisco stammered. Caitlin raised an eyebrow, bracing herself for a spew of prejudice and fear that most non-metas felt toward her kind. “Awesome! Should we go now? I have a million ideas on how to boost a signal that would actually tap into their nav sat. I assume they have one…” Caitlin couldn’t help but laugh as Cisco gave a quick wave to Barry and skipped over to her as she led him to her car. It was obvious to Barry how these two could easily be friends in any timeline.

“Dr. Snow,” Snart called out before Caitlin could reach her car. She seemed taken aback that the captain was even willing to look her in the eyes let alone address her directly. “As Police Captain, I’ve failed you and everybody at Mercury Labs. I’m truly sorry for everything. You deserved better.”

Caitlin flashed another warm smile, one that could melt ice. “Curtis always said you had a good heart, Captain.”

Then she and Cisco drove off to help save the future.


End file.
